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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23216059">Mother</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adanie_Josaeh/pseuds/Adanie_Josaeh'>Adanie_Josaeh</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire &amp; Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arya Stark Returns, Canon - Book, Canon Compliant, F/M, Future Fic, Not TV Show Canon, POV Arya Stark, Some very light angst I think, The Brotherhood Without Banners (ASoIaF), re-post, some violence but not too graphic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:34:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23216059</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adanie_Josaeh/pseuds/Adanie_Josaeh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Arya found that she was nervous. If her mother was in that cave, she knew she would be helpless against the urge to throw her arms around her.  She remembered longing for her mother, wanting Catelyn’s arms around her, wanting to bury her face in her mother’s thick hair while Catelyn shushed her and told her that she was safe.  It was a foolish fantasy, Arya knew.  She would never be safe again.  Her family would never be whole again.  But she couldn’t shake the fantasy.</p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>Arya returns to Westeros and hears news that her mother is leading a band of outlaws in the Riverlands.</p>
<p>As she travels to meet her, she wonders what to expect.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arya Stark &amp; Catelyn Tully Stark, Arya Stark &amp; Gendry Waters, Arya Stark &amp; Lady Stoneheart, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mother</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I originally posted this in February (I think), but I took it down because it was in the middle of a contest.  I used a different name in the contest and I didn't want anyone to think the story was ripped off.  The contest is over (I won second!) and things have settled down, so here it is again with a very slightly higher word count.</p>
<p>Also, this story may be included in a larger story one day (which was another reason I initially took it down), but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.</p>
<p>This story is different from what I usually write and I hated that it was being wasted by sitting on my computer and not being shared.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I serve your mother now.”</em>
</p>
<p>Arya heard those words repeatedly as she bounced along on her horse, traveling with a band of outlaws through the Riverlands. They hadn’t blindfolded her, at least; though now it would hardly matter if they did.  She’d been blind for a time and could make her way in the dark, if needed.  Her eyes moved to Gendry, sitting uncomfortably atop his horse, both man and beast skittish of one another. </p>
<p>Gendry had been the one to say those words to her, not an hour after she’d found him again. She had lunged at him, angry at his words, angry at his insensitivity.  While Arya had not had anyone truly show her sensitivity in years, she had hoped that Gendry wouldn’t be so callous.  She could have killed him, if she wanted to.  But as it was, she didn’t want to kill him and Gendry was quite strong.  He had gripped her arms and held on tightly as she raged at him</p>
<p>She had been exhausted afterward, not having displayed such emotion in a long time.</p>
<p>“You’re mistaken,” she said, after she’d calmed some.</p>
<p>“I’m not,” he said grimly.</p>
<p>Gendry had refused to explain anything else, but had offered to take Arya immediately to her mother. After rounding up some more men of the Brotherhood, they had set off.  Arya tried to question him about it, but Gendry refused to elaborate.  Part of her still thought it was a mistake – that some clever, manipulative woman had taken on her mother’s identity and was running around the Riverlands commanding the Brotherhood.  Another part of her thought that perhaps her mother had survived the massacre at the Twins somehow.  If she was honest with herself, the latter was what she hoped for.</p>
<p>It had been no more than two years since Arya had left Westeros, but so much had changed. Gendry told her that the Lannisters no longer ruled in King’s Landing, but a Targaryen had returned – supposedly the long-lost son of Rhaegar who had been thought to be dead all these years.</p>
<p>
  <em>I suppose if Aegon Targaryen can survive what should have been certain death, my mother can as well.</em>
</p>
<p>She was only thirteen, still a child by all definitions, but Arya had grown accustomed to having only herself to rely on. She’d fled her homeland, tried to become no one, but struggled to let go of that girl she had once been.  When she’d heard that her brother, Rickon, had been found and that Sansa had taken back Winterfell, Arya knew she couldn’t go on pretending that she was anyone except Arya Stark.  She couldn’t be no one when her thoughts were constantly filled with her siblings and her home.</p>
<p>Now, she was being taken to her mother.</p>
<p>She scanned the group of outlaws and recognized a few of them, though most were new faces. Jack-Be-Lucky and Beardless Dick were among the group escorting her to her mother’s location.  Ned Dayne was notably absent from the group, but Arya didn’t want to ask his whereabouts as Gendry never seemed to like him before. </p>
<p>When the outlaws stopped for the night, Arya sat away from them. She didn’t truly trust any of them, not even Gendry, so sleep was evasive.  She stayed awake most of the night, wondering what the reunion with her mother would be like, if the woman who now commanded the Brotherhood was indeed her mother.  The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that some other passably attractive, auburn-haired woman had successfully rallied the Brotherhood using her mother’s name.  It made her angry.  If the woman was an imposter, what would she do when faced with Catelyn Stark’s daughter?</p>
<p>Arya frowned to herself as she thought about it. Harwin was still with the Brotherhood.  Gendry had confirmed it when she’d asked after him.  Surely Harwin would know an imposter from the real Catelyn Stark.  Unwillingly, hope attached itself to Arya’s heart, though she tried to fight it off, tried to tell herself that she was being ridiculous.  But what if…</p>
<p>What if Catelyn Stark had gotten away from the massacre that had claimed the King in the North and all his army? What if Catelyn had somehow survived the Red Wedding and had been in hiding all those months that Arya was traveling the Riverlands, thinking her mother had died?  Sandor Clegane had told her that her mother and brother were dead, but what if he had been wrong?</p>
<p>Arya thought back to the wolf dream she’d had. Unlike regular dreams that faded when she woke up, this dream was vivid, and she could still remember it as though it had just happened.  She had dreamed of being a wolf and pulling a bloated white corpse from the Green Fork that had the auburn hair of Catelyn Stark.  Arya closed her eyes, both wishing she could forget the image, while also holding onto it, desperate to know if it was real.</p>
<p>She hardly noticed when the sun rose, orange light filtering through the sparse leaves of the trees overhead. The members of the Brotherhood began to stir, and she got up to help them pack up camp so they could get back to their journey.  She was anxious to learn the truth of the leader’s identity. </p>
<p>Gendry rode beside her, still not speaking, and Arya found that she was fine with this arrangement. She was angry with him, though she couldn’t decide what made her feel that way.  He looked angry too, though she remembered that he’d worn a scowl often when she knew him before.  Now, as he wrestled with keeping his mount under his control, his brow was furrowed and he frowned at the path ahead of them, his mood darkening the further they went.</p>
<p>Arya found that she was nervous. If her mother was in that cave, she knew she would be helpless against the urge to throw her arms around her.  She remembered longing for her mother, wanting Catelyn’s arms around her, wanting to bury her face in her mother’s thick hair while Catelyn shushed her and told her that she was safe.  It was a foolish fantasy, Arya knew.  She would never be safe again.  Her family would never be whole again.  But she couldn’t shake the fantasy.</p>
<p>Arya immediately recognized the cave when their group came upon it. She slid off her horse and the uneasy feeling she’d had for the last two days intensified.  Her gut clenched and her heart beat against her chest frantically.  Something didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t say why.  She watched as Gendry awkwardly dismounted, scowling at his mount all the while.  Finally, he met her eyes and jerked his head toward the entrance to the hollow hill. </p>
<p>Jack-Be-Lucky and some of the others led the way inside, while Arya and Gendry trailed further back. The inside of the cave was as she remembered, the walls made up of soil and rock and weirwood roots.  The other members of the Brotherhood stayed in the cavern nearest the opening as she and Gendry went alone, traveling deeper into the hollow hill.  She ducked through the tunnels, sometimes going to her hands and knees as they made their way to the largest cavern.  When they had nearly reached it, Gendry took hold of Arya’s elbow. </p>
<p>“Milady, I should tell you…”</p>
<p>She jerked her arm out of his hand and threw him a dangerous look, though she wasn’t sure he could see it in the dimly lit cave. “It’s too late for warnings,” she hissed.</p>
<p>A large fire was built in the center of the cavern, nearly reaching the roof. Beyond the fire, a small, cloaked figure stood, its only visible body part was its bone-white hands.  The figure kept silent as Arya and Gendry approached. On the outside, Arya remained calm, her face passive as she approached the leader.  She felt goosebumps begin to creep up her arm the closer she got, her heart thundering inside her chest. </p>
<p>
  <em>Fear cuts deeper than swords.</em>
</p>
<p>Arya stopped within a few feet of the leader, immediately noting that something was not right. Though she could not see the face beneath the cloak, long, white, brittle hair hung from beneath the hood.</p>
<p><em>That’s not my mother’s hair</em>.</p>
<p>Arya straightened her back and lifted her chin as she stared into the dark hood. The flames failed to illuminate what lay within and Arya found she was growing impatient. </p>
<p>“Who are you?” She demanded.</p>
<p>Bony, white fingers rose to the hood and pushed back the material. Arya clenched her teeth so hard her jaw ached as she took in the face now lit by the fire.  Her hands curled into fists and she fought back a sob.  She shook her head as she studied the thing that stared back at her with Tully blue eyes.</p>
<p>“No,” she said, cold rage filling her as she looked at what Gendry had named as her mother. There were deep scratches covering her white, bloated skin from above her eyes all the way to her jaw.  The skin on her neck lay open grotesquely and Arya knew immediately that her throat her been slit.  No one had to explain to her what had happened.  That damned priest had brought her back as he’d brought Ser Beric back so many times.  She looked around as though Thoros might be hiding in a dark corner of the cavern. </p>
<p> “The Red Priest,” she said coldly while ignoring the creature in front of her, “Where is he?”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t him who did it, milady,” Gendry answered from behind her. “Ser Beric gave his last life so that the Lady could rise.”</p>
<p>The thing reached out its hand, beckoning Arya closer to her.</p>
<p><em>You aren’t my mother</em>. </p>
<p>She went slowly, stepping closer to her as she searched the thing’s eyes, searching for any sign of Catelyn Stark in those blue depths. </p>
<p>She saw none.</p>
<p>It still held out its left hand and Arya took it with her right. It was cold and wrinkled and bony.</p>
<p><em>These are not my mother’s hands</em>. </p>
<p>The thing seemed to know Arya, there was a spark of recognition in its eyes, but that was all.  The thing tried to speak again, but Arya cared little what she had to say. </p>
<p>“She lives only for vengeance,” Gendry said from behind her. “I don’t know how she was before…when you were a girl, milady, but now she lives only for revenge.”</p>
<p>Arya could understand that. Is that not what she lived for as well?  Did she not want the death of all those who had hurt her family, all those who had betrayed her? </p>
<p>But then she remembered what had brought her back home.  Not revenge.</p>
<p><em>Rickon</em>, she thought, remembering how she felt when she heard that he had been rescued by one of Stannis Baratheon’s men. <em>Sansa</em>, she thought, even more emotion gripping hold of her at the thought that her sister had retaken Winterfell and what kind of strength that it must have required.</p>
<p><em>I didn’t come back for vengeance,</em> she realized, though she knew she wouldn’t pass up to opportunity if it presented itself. <em>I came back for my family.</em></p>
<p>“She’s not my mother,” Arya mumbled quietly.</p>
<p>The creature in front of her radiated hate and death and revenge, not love, and Arya knew what she had to do.</p>
<p>
  <em>Do you remember where the heart is? </em>
</p>
<p>Quick as a snake, Arya pulled her dagger and lunged, driving it into the creature’s chest.  The thing opened its mouth to scream, but only a terrible gurgling sound came out as it collapsed to the floor, leaking black blood from its wound.  She turned around to find Gendry, his eyes wide as he stared at the thing on the floor that was once her mother.</p>
<p>She crouched down to exit through the tunnel, leaving Gendry standing where he was. “The Brotherhood…” he said.</p>
<p>“Let them come for me,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll do to all of them as I did to that thing.”</p>
<p>Gendry turned to her, shaking his head. “No, milady.  They might want you to lead them.”</p>
<p>She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. “They are to be disappointed.  I’m going home to my family.”</p>
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